Historical Plain Dress with the Kilt?

**Bugbear** · 6th April 12, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Ryan Ross

I don't know if this helps you out any, but my great great grandfather was very strict Plymouth Brethren, and he did not allow his boys to wear trousers until they finished secondary school; they were kilted full time, usually in tweed, but not always.

Yes! That is very helpful. Thank you, Ryan. I will look into Plymouth Brethren off forum…

What location and time period or date range would this be, if I may ask?

**Ryan Ross** · 6th April 12, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by Bugbear

Yes! That is very helpful. Thank you, Ryan. I will look into Plymouth Brethren off forum…

What location and time period or date range would this be, if I may ask?

Awesome.

This would be somewhere in Scotland (not sure of the exact location/locations, just now), as well as London, and a few years in Staten Island, NY. Time range would be about 1900-1920ish.

**Bugbear** · 6th April 12, 12:31 PM

Thank you, Ryan, was wondering if it was in Scotland. I have found a little documentation that Plymouth Brethren have practiced a form of plain dress (not as a standard uniform), but I need to study some timelines etc.
Very interesting.

**Bugbear** · 8th April 12, 03:26 PM

I was just reading through Sir Walter Scott's historical novel, Redgauntlet, which appears to be set in somewhat the same borders area as the Fox journal passages I discussed, but well over a hundred years later: mid 1760's. He uses a Quaker character named "Joshua," starting in "LETTER VI," and describes plain dress and speech (thee and thou etc.)of the Quaker folks. Joshua is described as wearing clothing of "dark-grey superfine cloth ", and a reference to An uncocked hat brim as being Quaker garb is made. I suppose this too would be stereotyped and romanticized, coming from Scott, and as best as I can tell, first published in 1824.

I'm using the Project Gutenberg, public domain copy, and this should get to "LETTER VI":
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2516/....htm#2H_4_0008
And this link should go to his notes where he discusses knowing a Quaker lady in Kelso during his youth:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2516/...-h.htm#2H_NOTE
Scott at least seems to have known some people in the Society of Friends in Scotlan, and been aware of some sort of plain dress practices among them.
*yawn*

It's interesting to me, at least.